Gov. Shutdown?

[Jonathan Whatley]

I was listening to Sean Hannity this afternoon, and he mentioned that pretty much it is not a question of 'IF' we will turn out like Greece did in their deep depression, but rather a question of "When?"

That's exactly what a paid spokesman for a gold bullion company would say.

TUNE IN TO GLENN BECK'S Fox News show or his syndicated radio program, and you'll soon learn about the precarious state of the US dollar, a currency on the verge of collapse due to runaway government spending, a ballooning national debt, and imminent Zimbabwe-style hyperinflation. To defend yourself against the coming financial holocaust, Beck explained on his radio show last November, you need to "think like a German Jew in 1934, maybe 1931." And that means thinking about buying some gold.

Conveniently, Beck made that suggestion as he was in the midst of interviewing his own "gold guy," Mark Albarian, the president and CEO of Goldline International, a Santa Monica, California-based precious metals company that is a major sponsor of Beck's radio and cable shows. […]

Cashing in on all this is a raft of entrepreneurs who have tapped into financial insecurity and fever dreams of impending tyranny. Nearly every major conservative radio host, including Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, and Dr. Laura Schlessinger has advertised gold.

Glenn Beck's Gold Gurus Charged With Fraud (Stephanie Mencimer, Mother Jones, May 19, 2010 with subsequent updates)

However, on a positive note, he did mention that if we can solve these problems of putting the debt ceiling off and not making a budget and having a President and Congress throw away the integrity of their offices until they get their way, we can look for solutions that make a difference.

Well, Congress seems to be failing in its basic responsibility to fund the government. Congress seems to be putting the President in a difficult position, forget politically, perhaps Constitutionally.

Midland Texas, Sean said (if I remember correctly), is the only town in Texas or possibly in the U.S. that has a ZERO unemployment rate!!!!
Why is that?

That is because it is an oil town! They drill for oil and are very successful.

Close! In recent rankings Midland has been the U.S. city included with the lowest unemployment rate. The unemployment rate in Midland, not seasonally adjusted and not including labor force non-participants (including those who could work but stopped looking), is currently 3.4%.

Sean discussed that it's right beneath our feet!! ENERGY. He said energy is what is needed for any successful forward moving society/economy.

Correct: Midland is a oil and gas town during an oil and gas boom. Is its current unemployment rate scaleable across the country? Can we expect it to last forever in Midland? The unemployment rate in Midland was 6.4% at a peak in 2009, 8.3% at peaks in 1992 and 1999. Midland's unemployment rates aren't even quite scaleable to Odessa, Midland's adjacent twin city, where unemployment rates are higher sometimes by several points.

Midland, TX and Odessa, TX Unemployment Rates (Not seasonally adjusted. Via Google Public Data; data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

There are answers! We just have to be willing to be unselfish, and productive to take them.

Congress and the President need to be worried about listening to the people, and the people need to be concerned about being HEARD! But it takes sacrifices of pay perhaps and time and popularity to do both of those things.

I think we'd disagree on all sorts of specifics. But I agree with these sentiments absolutely.